First core collection, whaling, and native dancing

Drilling our first core with Ellyn

When I first came to the Arctic, Don Perovich had told me, “There is seeing, breathing, and not getting frost bite. You can only pick 2 at any time.” While that saying still indeed holds true, I have a new one: Choose 2 of the following: staying warm, not having loud noises (i.e. overhead heaters), and having semi-decent internet. Thus, I have found a way to get good enough internet to upload some photos but it involves hanging out in our staging Quonset hut kept just above freezing with very loud overhead heaters. Most of this week has been spent getting the ICE-MITTs up and running, and trying to run the tests that we did not have time to run back in Hanover. Scientifically, the highlight so far has been getting out onto the sea ice on Tuesday and successfully gathering a full core. Although the core broke in half during the bumpy ride home, we showed that it is indeed possible to gather a full 1 meter core with no breaks. The mission had been to gauge sea ice thickness in the region, so we did not bring an ICE-MITT out into the field. This means that the ice core changed in temperature during the snowmobile trip back. Since this core will only be used for testing, we were not too concerned. In the spirit of celebration, last night was cause for a celebratory drink as we successfully created a temperature gradient (and maintained it!) using the ICE-MITT. The fact that it was the wrong temperature gradient from what I asked the ICE-MITT to do is minor details. Apparently our ICE-MITTs have a mind of their own. “You want 5 degrees F, I give you 15 degrees F,” says the ICE-MITT and it was so. Still, it is pretty satisfying having an ice core at 0 degrees F at one end in a room that is 50 degrees F.

Loving our first core

Let's be honest for a minute. Although the science is exciting and pays the bills, it isn't the sole reason one falls in love with the poles and is definitely not the reason you are reading this blog. Antarctica was about the penguins, with the seals being a close second. The verdict is still out for this year's trip to the Arctic, but so far the people and culture is taking a strong lead. This week Barrow is hosting the international whaling community for the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). It involves many Inuit whalers from communities all across Alaska, Canada, and even whalers from Russia. Tuesday night the local community hosted a potluck complete with native dancing. Consistent with the friendliness of the town, we were invited to join. Still riding the high of the Patriots win (editor side note: high probability the Patriots will be mentioned in nearly every blog post over the next few weeks), I immediately was drawn to a whaler wearing a Red Sox hat and had to ask him about it. It turns out that Keith is from the Makah tribe in Washington (one of the few people here from the lower 48) and he just happened to catch a Mariners/Red Sox game one year. Only after we sat down for dinner together did he show me that he had a Seahawks jacket on underneath. His tribe has a 2,000 year old cultural and spiritual connection to whaling, hunting gray whales for sustenance, clothing, handicrafts, etc. From 1920 to the 1990s however, the Makah had to stop, as commercial whaling put the gray whale on the Endangered Species Act and the Makah began to lose their traditional knowledge. With the gray whale population recovering in the 1990s, the Makah started whaling again, but have been held up in legal battles with animal activist since 1999 despite having a treaty with the USA signed in 1855 granting them rights to the sea and the support of the IWC. Keith explained to us some of the other current challenges and struggles of the whaling community, as we dined on whale (both boiled and frozen raw), seafood, turkey, and soup from caribou. After the 2 hour feast, we were treated to hours of traditional dancing by the local Barrow community. I am most impressed with the respect and honor that the community shows to the elders, evident in all aspects of life in Barrow (even on comments I heard on the radio today).

Dinner with Keith and the International Whaling Commission

I have been hearing that it is pretty cold back in Vermont this week. Rumor has it that windshields even brought temperatures down to -21 degrees F. I was about to have a lot of sympathy for everyone back home, but then I looked at the temperature outside. Today was -29 degrees F, without windshield. Tomorrow we have decided not to head out onto the ice as windshields are supposed to be 50 below zero. The cutoff for work is generally about -40. We also don't have the 2-3 feet of fresh powder New Englanders are currently enjoying right now. An aurora viewing one of these upcoming nights though would make me temporarily forget about that.

Native dancing after dinner